Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 13:7
Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe [them]:
7. I will be ] Rather, I have become. The evident decay of Israel as a nation shows that the punishment has begun (see Hos 7:8-10).
the leopard ] Familiar to the Hebrews and Assyrians under the same name ( nmr, nimru). Its habit of springing from an ambush is again referred to in Jer 5:6.
by the way will I observe them ] According to another pronunciation of the consonants, the Septuagint, Peshito, and Vulgate (supported by some MSS. and many editions of the Hebrew Bible), render ‘in the way to Assyria’, an allusion being supposed to Israel’s dallying with the great northern empire (Hos 5:13). So also Hitzig and Ewald. But the prophet has to deal now with the disease itself, not with a mere symptom.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will be unto them as a lion – They had waxen fat, were full; yet it was, to become themselves a prey. Their wealth which they were proud of, which they abused, allured their enemies. To cut off all hopes of Gods mercy, He says that he will be to them, as those creatures of His, which never spare. The fierceness of the lion, and the swiftness of the leopard, together portray a speedy inexorable chastisement. But what a contrast I He who bare Israel in the wilderness like a Father, who bare them on eagles wings, who drew them with the cords of a man, with bands of love, He, the God of mercy and of love, their Father, Protector, Defender, Avenger, He it is who will be their destroyer.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. I will be unto them as a lion] shachal is supposed to mean here the black lion, frequent in Ethiopia.
As a leopard] namar, so termed from its spotted skin, for to be spotted is the signification of the root.
Will I observe them] The leopard, tiger, and panther will hide themselves in thick bush-wood, near where they expect any prey to pass; and as soon as it comes near, spring suddenly upon it. To this is the allusion in the text: “By the way will I observe them;” watch for them as the leopard does. They shall be greatly harassed even on their way to Assyria, when going into captivity.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Therefore; since they have so abused my gifts by luxury, pride, and atheistical forgetfulness of me, of what I had done for them, what I deserved and expected from them, I will use them as is meet, and take my revenge upon them.
I will be unto them; unthankful, apostates, idolaters, sottish drunkards, belly-gods, who live to eat and drink, and forget me.
As a lion: see Hos 5:14; that is, in his fullest strength, of a middle age, swift in pursuing, and that can continue the chase till he overtake his prey; and which is strong, courageous, and proud of his strength and success; that will dreadfully roar over his prey, as if he challenged any one to attempt its rescue.
As a leopard; a very fierce, swift, sly, and watchful creature, Jer 5:6; Hab 1:8. Observe them; watch for them, that I may be sure to take them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. (Hos 5:14;Lam 3:10).
leopardThe Hebrewcomes from a root meaning “spotted” (compare Jer13:23). Leopards lurk in thickets and thence spring on theirvictims.
observethat is, liein wait for them. Several manuscripts, the Septuagint,Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic read, by a slight change ofthe Hebrew vowel pointing, “by the way of Assyria,“a region abounding in leopards and lions. English Version isbetter.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Therefore I will be unto them as a lion, Because of their idolatry, ingratitude, luxury, and especially their forgetfulness of God, which is last mentioned, and with which the words are connected. By this and the following metaphors are set forth the severity of God’s judgments upon them for their sins, and their utter destruction by them. Some observe the word f here used signifies an old lion, which, though slower in the pursuit of its prey, is more cruel when it has got it; see Ho 5:14;
as a leopard by the way will I observe [them]; which is a quick sighted, vigilant, crafty, and insidious creature, which lurks in trees, and watches for men and beasts that pass by the way, and seizes on them. The lion makes his onset more openly, this more secretly; and both express the various ways God would take in his providence to chastise these people for their sins, and that he would watch over them to do them hurt, as he had to do them good, and take the proper opportunity of doing it, and execute his purpose with great wrath and fury, to their utter ruin; see Jer 5:6. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, “as a leopard by the way of Assyria” g, or “the Assyrians”; and so some interpreters take the sense to be, that God would watch them in their way to Assyria for help, and blast their designs, disappoint them of their expected assistance, and surprise them with his judgments; see Ho 5:13; and there was a mountain in Syria, called the mountain of the leopards, where they used to haunt, and from whence they came out to take their prey, to which there is a reference in So 4:8; which was two miles from Tripoli (a city of Syria) northward, three from the city Arces southward, and one from Mount Lebanon h; and such is the vigilance and agility of leopards, that they will sometimes, as Pliny i says, mount thick trees, and hide themselves in the branches, and leap at once, and unawares, upon those that pass by, whether men or beasts, as before observed; wherefore, with great propriety, is this simile used. The Targum is, “my word shall be”, c.
f “vetus leo”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. g Sept. “in via Assyriormm”, V. L. “super via Assyriae”, Schmidt “in via Assyria”, Liveleus, Cocceius. h Adrichomii Thestrum Terrae Sanct. p. 186. i Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 73.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“And I became like a lion to them; as a leopard by the wayside do I lie in wait. Hos 13:8. I fall upon them as a bear robbed of its young, and tear in pieces the enclosure of their heart, and eat them there like a lioness: the beast of the field will tear them in pieces.” The figure of the pasture which made Israel full (Hos 13:6) is founded upon the comparison of Israel to a flock (cf. Hos 4:16). The chastisement of the people is therefore represented as the tearing in pieces and devouring of the fattened flock by wild beasts. God appears as a lion, panther, etc., which fall upon them (cf. Hos 5:14). does not stand for the future, but is the preterite, giving the consequence of forgetting God. The punishment has already begun, and will still continue; we have therefore from onwards imperfects or futures. , from , to look round, hence to lie in wait, as in Jer 5:26. It is not to be changed into ‘Asshur , as it is by the lxx and Vulgate. , the enclosure of their heart, i.e., their breast. Sham (there) points back to al – derekh (by the way).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The Prophet denounces again on the Israelites the vengeance of God; and as they were become torpid through their own flatteries, as we have already often observed, he here describes the terrible judgement of God, that he might strike fear into the obstinate, so that they might at length perceive that they had to do with God, and begin to dread his power. And this, as we have said, was very necessary, when the Prophets intended to awaken hypocrites; for self- confidence so inebriates them, that they hesitate not to despise all the threatenings of God: and this is the reason why he adopts these three similitudes. He first compares God to a lion, then to a leopard, and then to a bear. I will be, he says, like a lion, like a leopard, and then like a bear God, we know, is in his own nature merciful and kind; when he says that he will be like a lion, he puts on as it were another character; but this is done on account of men’s wickedness, as it is said in Psa 18:26,
‘
With the gentle, thou wilt be gentle; with the perverse, thou wilt be perverse.’
For, though God speaks sharply and severely through his Prophet, he yet expresses what we ought to remember, and that is, that he thus speaks, because we do not allow him to treat us according to his own nature, that is, gently and kindly; and that when he sees us to be obstinate and unnameable, he then contends with us (so to speak) with the like contumacy; not that perversity properly belongs to God, but he borrows this similitude from men, and for this reason, that men may not continue to flatter themselves when he is displeased with them. I shall therefore be like a lion, like a leopard in the way
As to the word Assur, interpreters take it in various ways. Some render it, Assyria, though it is here written with Kamets: but the Hebrews consider it as an appellative, not the name of a place or country. Some again render it thus, “I will look on them,” and derive it from שור, shur, and take א aleph, as designative of the future tense. Others derive it from אשר, asher, and will have it to be in the conjugation Pual: and here they differ again among themselves. Some render it, “I will lay in wait for them:” and others think it to be Shoar, “I will be a layer in wait like a leopard.” But this variety, with regard to the meaning of the passage, is of but little moment; for we see the drift of the Prophet’s object. He intends here to take away from hypocrites their vain confidence, and to terrify them with the apprehension of God’s vengeance which was impending. He therefore says that though God had hitherto spared them, nay, had in a manner kindly cherished them, yet since they continued to provoke his wrath, their condition would soon be very different; for he would come against them like a lion; that is, he would leap on them with the greatest fury; he would also be like a leopard: and a leopard, we know, is a very cruel beast: and, lastly, he compares him to a bereaved she-bear, or, a bereaved bear.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) I will be . . .More correctly, have become . . . as a panther in the way do I lie in wait. The idea of this and the following verses is that of a Divine judgment suspended over Israel, destined soon to fall with overwhelming ruin (721 B.C.). The English version follows the interpretation of the Targum. But the LXX., Vulg., and Syriac versions are based on a slightly different reading of the text contained in some Hebrew MSS. They render, as a panther on the way to Assyria.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7, 8. The flock, Israel, despised the good shepherd; now he will transform himself into a beast of prey seeking to devour the sheep.
Lion See on Hos 5:14.
Leopard Mentioned on account of its fierceness (compare Isa 11:6). Leopards are still found in Mount Lebanon, though in small numbers.
Will I observe them R.V., “will I watch by the way,” waiting for the proper moment to spring. “It (the leopard) is specially noted for the patience with which it waits expecting its prey, upon which it springs with deadly precision” (compare Jer 5:6). Several of the ancient versions and some of the Hebrew manuscripts read, “in the way to Assyria” (Hos 5:13; Hos 7:12). This would require only a slight change, but the other is to be preferred,
Bear When the country was covered with more abundant forests than at present bears were more numerous in Palestine; they are still quite numerous in the wilder regions of the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, rarer in the mountains east of the Jordan, and very rare in western Palestine (compare Lam 3:10; Van Lennep, Bible Lands, 259ff.).
Bereaved of her whelps And therefore even more ferocious than usual (2Sa 17:8; Pro 17:12).
The caul of their heart Literally, the inclosure of the heart. In popular language probably equivalent to breast.
There In the very spot where he seizes the prey. There will be no delay.
Like a lion R.V., “lioness.” It is difficult to distinguish between the different words for lion used in Hebrew; the one used here is thought to denote the female, but this is not beyond question.
The wild beast shall tear them The beasts will assist Jehovah in despoiling Israel. “The end of the verse suggests a battlefield, where beasts of prey attack the corpses as the last avengers of God.” Certainly the whole is to be understood as a figurative description of the judgment about to fall.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Therefore am I to them as a lion,
As a leopard will I watch by the way,
I will meet them as a bear which is bereaved of her whelps,
And will rend the enclosure of their heart,
And there will I devour them like a lioness,
The wild beast shall tear them.’
And because of their behaviour and attitude towards them He was about to hunt them down, and tear them apart. He would be like a lion (compare Hos 5:14), like a leopard waiting by the way for prey to come along, leaping on it as it passed by, like a bear bereaved of its cubs, which in its anguish would tear apart men’s breasts which contain their hearts, like a lioness seeking its prey and devouring it. The wild beast would tear them apart.
One of the curses of Leviticus 26 had been that wild beasts would make a prey of the people, and the picture also no doubt includes human ‘wild beasts’ who will do similarly (compare Jer 4:7; Jer 5:6; Hab 1:8; Zep 3:3).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Hos 13:7. As a leopard, &c. As a leopard in the way to the Assyrians. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
I do not presume to interpret those verses as with an eye to mercy only; no doubt they contain under several similitudes, tokens of the Lord’s heavy judgments. But to the Ephraims of the Lord, those whom as the Lord had just before said, he knew in the wilderness, is there not reason to hope his judgments are in mercy? The Holy Ghost, though the Comforter, is no less a spirit of judgment, and a spirit of burning. Isa 4:4 . Rending the caul of the heart is not unsimilar to taking away the heart of stone, and giving an heart of flesh. Reader! remember I do not presume to determine this point. But, when I read the whole of Hosea’s prophecy together, yea, when I go on to the next verse only, and hear what is there said, methinks I behold such loving-kindness in the Lord, and such gracious expressions from Him, that I feel disposed to cry out with the Prophet, Who is a God like unto thee, etc. See Mic 7:18-20 . Pray turn to Ezekiel before you turn from those verses, Eze 36:16 to the end.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Hos 13:7 Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe [them]:
Ver. 7. Therefore will I be unto them as a lion, as a leopard, &c. ] Thus still God proceedeth to use similitudes by the ministry of his prophets, as he did before, Hos 13:3 . He here compareth himself (who otherwise is compared to an eagle, bearing her young upon her wings; to a hen, hovering over chickens; to a father, cherishing his children, Exo 19:4 Deu 32:10-11 Mat 23:37 ) to a lion, yea, to an old lion, which taketh the prey but seldom, and therefore is more ravenous of it when taken; see Hos 5:14 to a leopard, or panther, that diligently observeth by the way, and lieth in wait for his prey, and useth subtilty, as not being so swift of foot, confer Jer 5:6 ; to a bear robbed of her whelps, which are very dear to her; to any other cruel creature, Hos 13:8 , as the tiger that flieth upon the very picture of a man, and teareth it, or if he cannot come at it, teareth himself for anger. Neither is it for nothing (saith Rivet) that God compareth himself here to all these together; but to show that there was no hope of escape, neither could he that had avoided one danger be safe from another, so dreadful a thing is it to fall into the punishing hands of the living God. Oh consider this, ye that forget God; lest he tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver you.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
as a lion. App-92. Compare Hos 5:14.
as a leopard. Compare Jer 5:6
by the way. Some codices, with three early printed editions, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “on the way of Assyria”.
will I observe = shall I watch, or lurk.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Hos 5:14, Isa 42:13, Jer 5:6, Lam 3:10, Amo 1:2, Amo 3:4, Amo 3:8
Reciprocal: Gen 49:27 – at night Job 10:16 – Thou huntest Psa 7:2 – rending Isa 17:3 – fortress Isa 17:10 – thou hast Jer 2:15 – young lions Jer 25:30 – roar Jer 25:38 – hath Dan 7:6 – lo Hos 2:10 – and none shall Hos 6:1 – he hath torn Rev 13:2 – was like
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE JUDGMENT OF GODS ANGER
I will be unto them as a lion.
Hos 13:7
I. Apostasy from Jehovah, which appears here also as Israels chief sin, brought death upon them: they died (Hos 13:1).This conception sounds the depths of the subject. Outwardly regarded, they lived long, even after they gave themselves up to the worship of Baal (just like a fruitful tree, Hos 13:15), but in truth inwardly they were dead. For true life consists in union with Jehovah: idols can give no life. Israel owed its life to Jehovah alone (Hos 13:4). Therefore (Hos 13:9): It has destroyed thee that thou hast been against Me, thy Help. What God had done for Israel from the beginning is here again (Hos 13:4-5) made prominent, and the deliverance from Egypt with the leading through the desert appear again as the fundamental act of mercy, for through them Israel became living. Their present conduct towards God was a base and ungrateful ignoring of those deeds in the presumption of a prosperity which they owed to their God (Hos 13:6). A people who are inwardly dead cannot long outwardly survive. That God Whom they had forgotten, and from Whom they had turned away would and must at last show them that He had not forgotten them (Hos 13:12) by destroying them without sparing. This is indeed the only means of bringing them to life. For that and that alone is designed by God in their case. This must ever be kept in view if we are to understand the threatenings aright, which are reproduced here in a peculiarly intensified form (Hos 13:7-8, Hos 13:12 to chap. Hos 14:1). But how true and striking is such a description seen to be, when we remember that this Divine judgment is executed by the invasion of a foreign conqueror! With what can his attack be better compared than with the attack of devouring beasts, or, after another image, with a scorching wind that destroys everything in its course? How often has that been repeated in the history of the nations!
II. The whole (temporal) kingdom was a Divine system of punishment and chastening.At the request of the people, He granted them a king, but with the expression of His displeasure at their desire because it proceeded from unbelief and vanity, and with the declaration that they would lose their freedom by its realisation. But, at the same time, this kingdom of Israel might become a blessing if it with its king would obey God. Nay, God, by establishing the throne of David in Zion, even connected the most precious promises with this kingdom, if the king were entirely one with God and should gather about him a nation obedient to God. But the people with their king followed more and more decidedly a course opposed to God by separating (in the kingdom of the Ten Tribes) from the house with which God had connected his promises, and so forsaking the king which God had given them, they must therefore be punished by having this self-erected kingdom taken away, and the punishment is all the greater that they shall never return to a state of freedom, but must lie under the much viler bondage of foreign rulers, until they return to the king whom God had promised to raise up from the House of David.
Illustration
So far can the love of God be changed into wrath that He, to Whom it were easy to save, does not do so, but delivers over to death and destruction, nay, even, as it were, invokes the powers of destruction to execute His wrath, without His repenting or recalling His purpose. Even in this God has assuredly purposes of salvation. He punishes so severely only to open the eyes, when and since all other means have failed.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Hos 13:7. The Lord was a tender shepherd over his people while they respected the divine law. However, they were unappreciative of the many favors that were shown them, and then God changed his attitude toward them and threatened IO act as a harsh beast. The figure has reference to the exile into a strange land that was destined to come upon the unfaithful nation.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
In view of Israel’s behavior, the Lord promised to become as an enemy of His people, like a lion or leopard that laid in wait to attack a sheep grazing in rich pasture (Hos 13:6). He would confront them as a mother bear crazed by the loss of her cubs (cf. 2Sa 17:8; Pro 17:12). He would tear them open like a bear and consume them like a lioness. The lion, leopard, and bear were all wild animals native to Canaan that were notorious for their relentless manner of killing prey.